Women collect
food aid in Chitsungo, Zimbabwe, Wednesday, April 16,2003. A small
community, nearly 3,000 families living in hamlets of brickand mud houses,
gather each month for emergency food handouts to help
themsurvive. Erratic rains and
the government's confiscation of white-owned farmshave led to the crisis
here in Chitsungo, which like other rural towns isstruggling to survive on
foreign food handouts. Some townspeople haven'tmade
it. ''They are buried outside the
villages,'' said Joel Zonke, anofficial with the charity Christian Care.
''The relatives come and tell usthe names of those who have passed away from
hunger.'' As Zimbabwe marks its 23rd
anniversary of independence from Britishcolonial rule on Friday, there is
little to celebrate here. Subsistence
farmers have not been able to grow enough grain to feedtheir families.
Meager cotton crops will bring in some cash, but there isnothing to buy with
it in district stores. Women, some
pushing wheelbarrows with babies on their backs, andrickety carts hauled by
emaciated cattle, head along paths and dusty trackstoward this remote
village of 3,000 families about 150 miles north
ofHarare. The United Nations' World
Food Program is drastically scaling downits food deliveries to Zimbabwe -
from about 60,000 tons a month to 30,000tons - as the first of the year's
harvests begin to trickle in. But it willcontinue to supply the people of
Chitsungo with handouts of corn, the staplefood, said official Luis
Clemens. The nation's deepening economic
crisis has collapsed what aidofficials call ''marketing mechanisms'' that
traditionally brought suppliesto the nation's most stressed
areas. Zimbabwe, once known as ''the
breadbasket of Africa,'' now suffersrecord inflation and unemployment and
acute shortages of food and gasoline.
The WFP and foreign donors have called for the government to end themonopoly
of the state Grain Marketing Board and ease price controls on food.These
have worsened food shortages blamed on droughts and the land
seizures. A lack of accurate forecasts
on this year's harvest makes the futureequally uncertain for many across
Zimbabwe, say aid officials and
diplomats. Unofficial forecasts estimate
that Zimbabwe will harvest 1.3 milliontons of food, slightly short of annual
requirements but three times theamount harvested last year, when massive
food imports were needed. That figure is
based largely on regional reports from stateagricultural officials believed
to be under intense political pressure toshow the success of peasant farming
after the often violent seizures ofthousands of white-owned commercial
farms. The Commercial Farmers Union,
which represents some 400 white farmersstill working on their land,
estimates a maximum grain harvest from alllocal sources this year of about
800,000 tons. ''I am convinced the
country will need significant food assistancefor the rest of the year,''
said Didier Ferrand, the French ambassador toZimbabwe, who is involved in
European Union aid efforts. The WFP says
it too is waiting for the official crop forecast but hascut aid imports
because its officials in most districts estimate newharvests will be
sufficient for between two and six
months. Last year, the agency said 7.2
million Zimbabweans, more than halfthe population, needed food assistance.
It fed nearly 5 million people lastmonth, averting mass
starvation. The new danger, said WFP's
Clemens, lies in ''food gaps'' that emergein coming weeks after aid supplies
have been wound down. Donors were
unlikely to commit more funds without seeing thegovernment's crop estimates,
promised next month. ''It still takes
three months from the donor's pledge to getting thefood into people's
mouths,'' he said.

TODAY is the 23rd anniversary
of Zimbabwe's Independence. The people ofZimbabwe have refound their
democratic strength. They have the Mugabe regimeon the run. Robert Mugabe's
end game will soon be over. Nonetheless, thedaily horror and further
economic collapse must be stopped ASAP.

Julius Nyerere has a lesson for
President Thabo Mbeki. For over two longyears of national destruction and
human rights abuses by a self-declared"African Hitler", Zimbabweans have
looked first and foremost to South Africafor leadership and for clear
signals that President Mbeki and the ANC (andhis avowedly apologist foreign
minister) understood the nature of Mugabe'sillegal regime.

They
expected Mbeki to act decisively to end the mayhem and to help
restoreconstitutional order (knowing that the South African Constitution
should beour great "gift" to Africa).

For some time now, Zimbabweans
have come to realise that Mbeki's take onZimbabwe was never a question of
some misunderstanding, of high-minded butineffectual behaviour. They have
come to see that Mbeki's position wasdeliberate and wrong.

It failed
to back a whole nation against a small-minded, delusional butvicious
impostor and his army of cronies. There never was a land reformprogramme,
just the annihilation of the votes of farm labour. There is themass theft of
assets by his family and cronies.

Mbeki's motives are now regarded as
highly dubious. To Zimbabweans and tomany South Africans, Mbeki has
positively supported Mugabe's dictatorship.Moreover, he has done this while
other African leaders have stood againstMugabe.

April 18 is not just
a chance for Zimbabweans to topple Mugabe. It is, morerealistically, a
chance for President Mbeki of democratic South Africa, thehead of the AU,
the recent chair of NAM, the main force behind Nepad and itsdemand for good
governance in Africa, to be seen to act to restoreconstitutional order to
Zimbabwe.

The inspiration for what Mbeki must do is what that much
revered and nowmuch missed African leader and statesman, Julius Nyerere, did
to IndiraGandhi.

During the late 1980s, Indira Gandhi declared a
"State of Emergency" toavoid an election. It was a move not unlike Mugabe's
stealing of both thegeneral and the presidential elections in Zimbabwe. In
the midst of Gandhi'semergency, Nyerere was awarded India's highest honour,
the Nehru PeacePrize.

Nyerere was duly invited to New Delhi to
receive the prize from Gandhi. She,no doubt, looked forward to the
legitimacy his presence would lend to herdeclared state of emergency that
had curtailed the democratic and otherrights of all Indians and which was
universally hated by all Indians.

Many doubted that Nyerere would accept
the prize and most Indians thoughtthat he might at the very least refuse to
travel to India to receive it fromGandhi.

To the disappointment of
the Indian public, Nyerere announced that he wouldtravel to India. He
crossed the Indian Ocean and, to everyone's amazement,he used the occasion
to change the course of Indian history.

The Nehru Peace Prize was an
evening ceremony in the biggest hall in NewDelhi. On the stage were two
ornate chairs and two lecterns. In the audiencewas the cream of Indian
society, government and military, and internationaldiplomats.

Gandhi
introduced Nyerere, spoke of the purpose of the prize and of previouswinners
and then handed the prize to Nyerere.

Nyerere then quietly and
determinedly, building the drama as he went, setabout reminding Gandhi and
all Indians of the values that Jawaharlal Nehruhad stood for, of his
interminable talks to vast audiences around the wholeof India in which he
explained the what, the why and the how of democracy.

Having laid out the
national goals of India, Nyerere then turned andaddressed Gandhi directly
across the large stage. He told her, to her faceand in front of the VIP
audience present and the radio and TV audiences inevery town and village of
India that, with her emergency, Gandhi was, heimplied, "burying her
father".

As a close and old family friend, one who had known her as a
child, he didnot, could not, approve of her emergency. Her father deserved
better fromhis daughter and heir.

It was a great, courageous and
dramatic speech. The audience was transfixed.No-one dared breathe. Gandhi
sat grim-faced, her usually haughty beak-nosedface turned ashen. When
Nyerere finished, there was rapturous applause,during which Gandhi quickly
ended the evening and strode from the stage.

A few days later, Gandhi
lifted the emergency and, by so doing, facedelections she would undoubtedly
lose. A new government would probably set upa commission of inquiry and she
and her family and cronies would then facemany accusations of human and
democratic abuses. She might even have to goto jail.

After Gandhi and
Nehru, Nyerere is the most revered hero amongst Indians.

Might Mbeki,
similarly, cross the Limpopo today to attend Zimbabwe'sIndependence
celebrations, celebrations Mugabe will undoubtedly hold tobolster his
regime, and will Mbeki, like Nyerere, use the event to changethe course of
Zimbabwe's history?

President Mbeki has the same opportunity as Nyerere
seized to demonstratecourage and to place his and South Africa's authority
behind the immediaterestoration of the rights of all Zimbabweans. It is an
historic opportunity,a moment that cannot be engineered at will.

It
must be used. He owes it to the people of Zimbabwe, first and foremost,but
secondarily to all of Africa. It could be his defining
moment.

HIGH Court judge Ann-Marie Gowora
has ordered the ElectoralSupervisory Commission (ESC) to release to the
MDC's lawyers variousdocuments relating to the 2002 presidential election as
requested by theopposition party.

Gowora also ordered that the ESC pay the legal costs incurred by theMDC
leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, in seeking the court
order. Tsvangirai was represented by Bryant
Elliot.

The documents include memoranda
and other papers relating to theappointment of members of the ESC
secretariat, including Brigadier DouglasNyikayaramba, engaged to supervise
the election.

The documents are required
by the opposition party for its petition toseek the nullification of the
election controversially won by PresidentMugabe. The MDC contended that
personnel employed by the ESC for theelection included members of the
Zimbabwe National Army and that, as aresult, the army virtually ran the
election.

The opposition party said the
General Laws Amendment Act, 2, of 2002,gave the ESC the sole right to
educate voters, a role previously played bynon-governmental
organisations.

"The applicant, therefore,
requires that the memoranda and otherdocuments relating to the secretariat
should be discovered by therespondent," Gowora said. "I do not see any
reason why the respondent shouldnot be ordered to discover the documents in
question as they are relevant tothe matter in dispute in the main
petition.

"In my view, the assertion by
the applicant that the respondent playeda pivotal role in the conduct of the
Presidential Election cannot begainsaid. Such documents as the respondent
might have in relation to thesame would, of course, be relevant to the
conduct of the election. I can seeno justification for not granting the
order sought by the respondent forfurther
discovery."

In a related case, Justice
Lavender Makoni ordered Tobaiwa Mudede, theRegistrar-General, on 12 October
last year to direct all constituencyregistrars countrywide to secure all
ballot papers and counterfoils used inthe election in separate sealed
packets and surrender the material togetherwith all voters' rolls to him for
safe custody.

Mudede allegedly defied the
court order. Yvonne Dondo, of the
Attorney-General's Office, said Mudede's officedid not have the transport to
ferry the election residue to Harare and thespace to keep the
material.

In responding to another order
granted by Justice Antonia Guvava tomake available documents and
correspondence to the police and otherbelection "stakeholders", Mudede
allegedly said all notices relating topolling stations, voting hours and
dates were published in newspapers and hedid not submit the requested
correspondence.

JOB Sikhala, the MDC MP for St
Mary's has vowed that he will not gointo exile even though he feels that he
is under threat from State agentswho are tracking down opposition
members.

When Sikhala left for Denmark for
treatment last month there wererumours that he would not come
back.

In an interview yesterday, a week
after returning from Denmark, wherehe had gone for treatment after he was
allegedly tortured while in policecustody, Sikhala said: "Fear, torture,
rape and murder will never be allowedto triumph over people's convictions
and their fight for freedom. I amprepared to die rather than be
exiled."

"The five million Zimbabweans
Mugabe exiled are enough. Our peopleshould be prepared to die for their
country. There is no way I can run awayfrom my
country."

Since his election in 2000,
Sikhala has been arrested more than 20times. He has pending cases while some
have been thrown away by the courtsfor lack of
evidence.

Early, this year Sikhala wept in
court as he narrated how he wastortured by State security agents. He was
arrested for allegedly plotting tooust President Mugabe. The case was thrown
out by magistrate,
Caroline-AnnChigumira.

Yesterday, the
MP said there shall come a time when those committingcrimes against humanity
shall face the wrath of the law.

"Those
who are collaborators of this regime must be warned that theyshall be the
Saddams," said Sikhala. Saddam Hussein is the ousted leader
ofIraq.

Sikhala said he was fearing
for his life as there were rumours thatsome police officers had visited his
home during his absence.

OPPAH Muchinguri, the Governor for
Manicaland, has dismissedallegations that last week she summoned Levison
Chikafu, a Mutare-basedpublic prosecutor, demanding an explanation on why he
granted 17 MDC membersbail.

The MDC
members included Giles Mutsekwa, the MP for Mutare North,Patrick Chitaka,
the MDC chairman for Mutare North and Pishai Muchauraya,the party's
provincial spokesman.

They were charged
under the Public Order and Security Act forallegedly participating in
organising last month's mass action.
Muchinguri said, "Chikafu is my legal advisor. People always think
ofnegative things."

Chikafu refused to
comment on the matter. Sources said Chikafu wasquestioned on why he granted
bail to the MDC activists. The sources said themeeting, held at the
Governor's office, was also attended by a top CIOofficer identified only as
Tapfuma and a senior police officer identified asone Superintendent
Gwata.

The sources said a top army
officer, whose identity could not beimmediately ascertained, was also
present. "They wanted to know the
circumstances in which the MDC members weregranted bail," said the
source.

The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights (ZLHR), on Tuesday said theywere investigating allegations that
Muchinguri and the top security agentsquizzed
Chikafu.

Arnold Tsunga, the director of
the ZLHR said: "We have heard reportsthat there was a problem between
Chikafu and people identifying themselvesas war veterans and that he was
summoned to the governor's office forquestioning on his conduct in executing
his duties as a public prosecutorand a representative of the
Attorney-General's Office in Manicaland.

"These reports have not yet been confirmed but we are carrying out
anindependent investigation as a body with an interest in the independence
ofthe judiciary."

Two weeks ago a
group of war veterans bulldozed their way into Chikafu's office demanding to
know why he had granted bail to the 17 MDC members.The MDC members were
arrested and detained for six days for allegedlyorganising last month's mass
stay-away.

More than 200 MDC supporters
including the party's vice-president,Gibson Sibanda, were arrested while
others claimed they were tortured inpolice custody for participating in the
stayaway.

Orders to crush the MDC were
issued by President Mugabe at the burialof Swithun Mombeshora, the late
Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education.
Mombeshora was interred at the National Heroes Acre last
month.

I am dedicating much
of this week's column to last week's mostimportant event, the death of
Archbishop Patrick Chakaipa and
relatedissues.

Like most Zimbabweans,
The Mole was not surprised at all thatPresident Mugabe made special efforts
to be seen to be grieving with therest of the Catholics in Zimbabwe and
elsewhere following Chakaipa's death.

Mugabe made sure he was one of the first important people to sendmessages of
condolence, saying what a great loss to Zimbabwe Chakaipa'sdeath was and the
usual other platitudes.

Not only that -
Mugabe was conspicuously present at the mass serviceat Harare's City Sports
Centre on Monday and at the burial in Chishawashalater that
day.

After all, apart from the fact that
Mugabe is, as far as we know,himself still a practising Catholic who belongs
to the Archdiocese of Harareand so would have been expected to be sorrowing
with the rest of the latecleric's flock, we are told a special friendship
existed between the twomen.

But it
was, thank God, obviously not a friendship or an alliance ofthe unholy kind
that appears to exist between Mugabe and Anglican BishopNolbert Kunonga,
which is largely based on the latter unconditionallyendorsing Mugabe's
insane policies.

The friendship between
the two men, whose personalities were asdifferent as chalk and cheese - one
is impetuous, self-centred anddictatorial, the other was mild-mannered,
unassuming and accommodative - issaid to have developed when Chakaipa took
the risk to solemnise Mugabe'smarriage to Grace despite strong misgivings
among his colleagues in theZimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference
(ZCBC).

Some ordinary Catholics have said
it was the only blot in Chakaipa'ssterling work in the service of the Lord.
The Mole is not too sure aboutthat. But what can be said with certainty is
that Mugabe tried to make itlook like Chakaipa was as approving, or even
supportive, of his disastrousland policy as Kunonga is. His statements
before and at the funeral left noone in any doubt about
that.

It was particularly unfortunate for
him to say about the lateArchbishop: "Chakaipa's stance on the land question
was unambiguous andwould for ever remain a quiet admonition to his peers who
chose the side ofthe unjust and the
selfish."

He was, of course, trying to
employ his now well-known divide-and-ruletactics to cause division in the
Catholic Church by eulogising Chakaipa asan ally who was firmly behind him
in what he mistakenly thinks was a "justwar" against commercial farmers,
while branding some of his "peers" - thosewho publicly disagreed with the
violence that accompanied land-grabbing - as"siding with the unjust and the
selfish".

Knowing how Mugabe hates people
who openly criticise him when he doessomething wrong, it is not difficult to
deduce that the one "peer" topmoston his mind when he made that snide remark
was Archbishop Pius Ncube, aremarkably courageous and righteous man who has
consistently been openlycritical of Mugabe's
misrule.

The Mole cannot put it past
Mugabe to have been personally behind theidea to have Chakaipa declared a
national hero. It was a way of bothslighting Ncube and at the same time
driving a wage between the CatholicChurch in Zimbabwe's senior clergy. But
the attempt failed dismally becauseChakaipa's surviving colleagues saw the
trick.

Like one, they debunked Mugabe's
claims regarding Chakaipa's supposedsupportive stance on Mugabe's totally
unjust, unfair and violentlydestructive land-grab exercise. Interviewed
separately, ZCBCSecretary-General Walter Nyatsanza, Bulawayo's Archbishop
Ncube and Mutare'sBishop Patrick Mutume, all said although Chakaipa
"unwaveringly supportedthe equal distribution of land, he was strongly
concerned about the violentmanner in which it was
implemented".

There you have it, Mr
President! Chakaipa may have made an error ofjudgment in blessing what some
people say had been an adulterousrelationship between you and Grace Marufu,
but he certainly did not supportyour violent land policy at
all.

Thank God the idea to declare him a
national hero was stillborn. If hehad been interred at the National Heroes'
Acre, Chakaipa would no doubt befeeling very uncomfortable keeping company
with some of the charactersburied
there.

Just what is it that has gotten
into traditional leaders calledchiefs? We had one lunatic among them the
other day, as they were gatheredin Bulawayo for their annual small talk not
long ago, making an utter foolof himself as he tried to fawn on Mugabe with
childish mouthings to theeffect that chiefs want him to rule Zimbabwe for
ever as if he was amonarch.

Now we
have another of their number, Chief Mutewo Chiweshe, who hasbarred the
burial of a National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) official athis rural home
in Chiweshe district.

The NCA official,
42-year-old Clever Dimba, who was the provincialchairman in Mashonaland
Central, had to be buried in Mvurwi where he diedlast Friday after Chief
Chiweshe had sent a messenger there to informmourners that Dimba could not
be buried in his area because of his linkswith the NCA. Dimba was also known
to be a strong supporter of the MDC.That, no doubt, was his big crime in the
tragically skewed view of thechief, who must obviously be an overzealous
supporter of Zanu PF.

Now this is not just
silly or absurd. It is obsequiousness goneabsolutely mad. The poor chief is
obviously trying to show Zanu PF leadersin the province how anti-MDC he is.
The good chief must be reminded that asa traditional leader, he has a duty
to uphold his people's customs andtraditions. His first duty is to his
people - not to pander to the dictatesof
politicians.

In Shona tradition, it is
taboo to speak ill of the dead or treat deadpeople with disrespect, which is
what Chiweshe did.

What people like Chief
Chiweshe - and they many, including those inthe police, the army, war
veterans and Zanu PF militias - need to know isthat the leaders in whose
name they are committing inhumane acts againstfellow Zimbabweans are not
going to be around for ever to protect them.Neither will Zanu PF. The law
will eventually catch up with them.

It
must have been with these people in mind that the MDC, for severaldays, ran
the following warning in the Press to members of the public: "Wewish to
remind perpetrators of human rights violations that we have begun tocompile
a detailed list of their activities. If you are part of the BorderGezi
militia, please be reminded that there will be no State protectionagainst
the crimes that you are committing in the name of Zanu PF. You alonewill
have to answer for your actions in a court of law."

Under normal circumstances, chiefs are
the custodians of the people'sculture and traditions. They should be wedded
to the clan's beliefs and wayof life which they are expected to guard
jealously.

What we are witnessing in
Zimbabwe today is that instead of doingthat, some of our traditional leaders
are going a step beyond theirprescribed mandate and taking the law into
their hands and this, with thefull blessing of the
government.

Yesterday, we carried the
story of Chief Mutewo Munyonga Chiweshe ofMashonaland Central, who is
reported to have barred the burial last week ofClever Dimba, a member of the
National Constitutional Assembly, a civicgroup that is lobbying for a new
people-driven constitution, among
otherissues.

The self-styled chief,
who has gained national notoriety for hisquestionable and unorthodox
behaviour, unilaterally ruled that Clever Dimba,who was the NCA chairman in
Mashonaland Central province, should not beburied in his rural home of
Chiweshe.

He was instead buried last
Sunday at Mvurwi Cemetery.

Some of Dimba's
relatives could not attend his burial as they fearedvictimisation, according
to NCA officials.

Apart from being
unAfrican, the chief's deplorable conduct runsagainst the rule of law and
clearly violates accepted international humanrights
laws.

This is the same chief who, on 15
April 2001, stirred a hornet's nestwhen he led a group of Zanu PF militia in
disrupting the funeral of NdogaMupesa, an MDC member in
Centenary.

So incensed where Mupesa's
relatives that they severely beat up themilitia and the chief in defence of
their constitutional rights. The chief,a known Zanu PF official, sustained
serious injuries and was subsequentlyadmitted to St Albert's Mission
Hospital.

Several acts of political
violence took place soon after the incident,within Centenary, obviously at
the instigation of Zanu PF and in retaliationfor the assault on the
chief.

Two MDC supporters, Show Goriati
and Arunero Mawachi, had their housesrazed to the ground by Zanu PF
supporters two days later.

But the irony
of this madness was that President Mugabe used the 2001Independence
celebrations, not to condemn the violence, but to express hissupport for the
wayward traditional leader.

He told Zanu
PF supporters at the National Sports Stadium that it wasunheard of for a
chief to be beaten up by his subjects and blamed the MDCfor the
attack.

He did not realise that it was
also unheard of, for a national leaderof Mugabe's stature, to condone
lawlessness by people who should beprotecting peace and promoting
harmony.

Early this month, Chief Chiweshe
was ordered by the High Court toreturn money and property amounting to more
than $2 million that he seizedlast year from a villager he had accused of
inciting people to attack him atthe Mupesa
funeral.

Chief Chiweshe is reported to
have ganged up with others on 26 Januarylast year and impounded property
belonging to Jack Kankuni of Chigwidavillage in Centenary. He also seized
$350 000 in cash from Ernest Muridziand Tinapi Diwura of
Chitungwiza.

Last August, Tafadzwa
Musekiwa, the Member of Parliament for Zengeza(MDC), could not attend the
burial of his father in Chikomba after threatsfrom Zanu PF youths. The young
legislator has since sought refuge in theUnited Kingdom after being tortured
and beaten up and receiving
deaththreats.

Both Musekiwa and
Dimba's cases are clear examples of what can happenif a country is led by
people who do not have the interest of the majorityat
heart.

Mugabe, who has boasted of having
many degrees in violence, should usethe Independence celebrations this
weekend to chastise his errant subject,Chief
Chiweshe.

In spite of anything I may have
said earlier, we do sometimes watchthe ZTV news in our house. Once in a
while is usually enough to put us offfor another week or two, and this
Sunday was one of those occasions.

When
the newsreader announced that the Zanu PF central committee wouldbe
considering whether to declare Archbishop Patrick Chakaipa a nationalhero, a
gasp of horror went up from the whole
room.

We were not horrified at the idea
that the archbishop might have beena hero, but at the notion that someone
was trying to hijack his memory bydeclaring him a Zanu PF hero. The late
archbishop was a brave man, and hewas dedicated to serving his people, but
that isn't what this national herobusiness is
about.

There are many brave men and women
who suffered for freedom but didnot make it to Heroes' Acre, some of them
because they belonged to the"wrong
party".

"National Hero" means, as we all
know by now, "a safe member of ZanuPF", one who never disagreed with the
party leadership. Some of those whodid make it to Heroes' Acre never had a
chance to show how brave they mighthave been if they had faced enemy
bullets, but they were safe, loyal membersof the
party.

Whatever he was, Patrick Chakaipa
was not that.

I remember in 1980 when I
was much more enthusiastic about Zanu PF,being disappointed that when the
new Prime Minister asked to see thearchbishop, Chakaipa took a fortnight to
reply. That disappointed some of usthen, but maybe he knew something we
didn't know at that stage.

Later, he did
seem to warm up to the party just as many of us werecooling towards it, but,
for example, his agreement to preside at thewedding of Robert Mugabe and
Grace Marufu did not prove he was a Zanu
PFlackey.

Their behaviour before their
marriage may have left something to bedesired, but I can understand, even if
I disagreed at the time and stilldisagree, with the archbishop's view that
the man was a Catholic and hisasking for a church wedding showed that he
wanted to put things right so agood priest (and we all knew Chakaipa was
that) could not refuse him theblessing and help of the
church.

It is simply untrue to say he was
the strongest supporter of the"Third Chimurenga" among the bishops. When it
began, he was already a sickman and, if we criticised him, it was for not
speaking against theviolence - something he may have been incapable of by
then. At least he didnot defend the way the land-grab was carried out. Some
of his colleagues didgo as far as to approve Mugabe's theft of the 2002
presidential election byattending and blessing his inauguration, but not
Chakaipa.

There is another aspect to the
"national hero" business that thearchbishop might have recognised and not
approved.

Do you remember when that MP
declared Mugabe the Son of God? I am surethat Mugabe does not want to be
God. He'd rather be Pope, because thatcarries more obvious power. If we, or
his own thugs, offend God, we haverather a long time to wait before we face
judgment for that, but the Popehas power over his own followers here and now
and a lot of people who arenot his followers admit he has tremendous
influence over them.

That is the power
Mugabe wants, not the power to send us to Hell whenwe die. He would rather
control us here and now.

And, when you
think about it, declaring national heroes is one waythat he tries to claim
the sort of power the Pope has. The nearest parallelI can think of is the
way the Pope declares saints in a canonisationceremony. This is a way of
saying that the dead person led a life that showsthey can be safely
venerated and imitated by the faithful, and isn't thatvery similar to what
is being said when someone is declared a national hero?They are saying:
"This man may have been a greedy, self-serving thug, but hewas a loyal
member of the party, and we want you all to be like that, evenif it doesn't
reward you so well. To prove your loyalty, you may veneratehim by naming
streets after him."

That is a kind of
power over our minds that many politicians wouldlove to exercise, and the
gentleman in State House revels in it.

If
the dead really did turn in their graves, there would be permanentearth
tremors at Heroes' Acre as men like Rekayi Tangwena, Herbert Chitepoand Guy
Clutton-Brock protested at the kind of company they are forced tokeep there.
If anyone had the impertinence to bury Chakaipa there, he alsowould turn in
his grave. He was a faithful enough follower of the Pope torecognise when
power-hungry politicians were using a ritual that he believedonly the Pope
could use, and using it to boost their own
power.

Archbishop Chakaipa may have been
quiet when people expected him tospeak out against the evils that have been
unleashed on our land in recentyears, but what could he have done when he
was dying of cancer? It doesn'tmake him a lackey of the party or of the mad
professor or of the man whoused to wear a grass
hat.

He was also a very humble man, who
would not be fooled by cheaphonours. National hero? He'd have wanted none of
that.

May he rest in
peace.

Magari Mandebvu is a Catholic
priest who writes on political andsocial issues.

Please, get
the likes of Jocelyn Chiwenga, Jonathan Moyo and RobertMugabe to know that
the public is recording all the evil they are
doing.

I can only hope that these men and
women have no children, for if theyhad any, they at least would be worried
about the future bequeath on thosechildren. Grace Mugabe, for instance, had
to withdraw her children from StGeorge's
College.

Soon Zimbabweans will recover the
taxpayers' money that was spent onshopping sprees overseas and the proceeds
from farm produce confiscated inthe name of land
reform.

If independence was all about
violence by Zanu PF top men movingaround with a large following of
bodyguards, then I feel sorry for theseleaders. A few years ago they could
freely do their shopping along FirstStreet without even a toy gun in their
bags. Now they have the blood of somany innocent people on their hands. They
have tortured so many people andhave sponsored murder, torture and rape
through their racist propaganda andhatred of the
MDC.

They will never be free in their own
country again. Their children arenot likely to be free either. Ian Douglas
Smith, who was the white leaderduring the armed struggle, is a free man
today. Everyone knows where helives. He is a free man despite the fact that
most of us lost our relativesduring the war of
liberation.

To the likes of Moyo, Chiwenga
and Mugabe, the legacy you leave behindis a shame to your grandchildren, if
at all you have children.

Simon Heffer on why the England cricket team must not go to
Zimbabwe nextyear In what used to be thought to be the gentleman's
game of cricket, abrisk handshake was usually enough to end any
disagreements. With theZimbabwean team scheduled to arrive here on 29 April
to play two Testmatches, various one-day internationals and games against
some counties, youmight think that doctrine was once again in operation.
After all, it wasonly a few weeks ago that England threw world cricket into
what the sportspages call 'turmoil' by refusing, for security reasons, to
play a one-daymatch in Harare. Some Zimbabweans were outraged. A swingeing
fine, thoughtto approach a seven-figure sterling sum, is being negotiated
with theInternational Cricket Council. The total costs to England of not
playing thegame are said to approach £2 million. It seemed that cricketing
relationsbetween Zimbabwe and England would never be the same again, at
least so longas the tyrant Mugabe remained enthroned in that
country.

Indeed, in the middle of last month it was
rumoured that Zimbabwe would, infact, call off their tour in retaliation for
the recent boycott. Some of us,knowing a little about the precarious
finances of world cricket, knew thiswould be highly unlikely. Poor countries
like Zimbabwe rely heavily on theearnings from overseas tours, which can be
several millions, to keep thegame going at home. England and Australia are
the two most lucrative venues.If Zimbabwe did not come here for the next
couple of months, they certainlycould not go to Australia instead to keep
the meter ticking over. Even ifthe Australians were happy to help out (and
that country takes an identicalview of Zimbabwe to ours) there is the little
problem of it being winterthere.

No: Zimbabwe were always coming,
whatever the impotent bluster of some ofthe country's more bellicose cricket
officials, or the feelings of thepresident of the country's Cricket Union.
In a demonstration of theseparation of powers that makes Zimbabwe such a
happy ship, Mugabe holdsthat job too. Three years ago, when Zimbabwe last
came here, he harrumphedshortly before the trip of the possibility of it not
happening; but it did.Cricket is an important propaganda tool for the
tyrant. Scenes being beamedaround the world of white-clad Zimbabweans
playing the great game at thehighest level help him to create the impression
that things cannot be soawful as it is claimed. Even though the next sight
of them will be onEnglish grounds, we are nonetheless helping him in this
charade.

Vince Hogg, the managing director of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union,
told theBBC last month that his country had been 'hurt' when England
cancelled inFebruary. 'We were hurt by their non-arrival and there was some
ill feeling.We gave every assurance about security and we felt let down. We
don'tbelieve that they were justified. We thought it was the wrong
decision.'Rather alarmingly, he added, 'England have learned from the
experience aswell and they expressed regret for not fulfilling their fixture
here. I'msure they don't want to repeat that. We are not in the game of
suits andcounter-suits.' In other words, Zimbabwe will come here later this
month,but in return there can be no question of England not fulfilling
theirobligations to tour there.

Even though Zimbabwe were never not
going to tour, England and Wales CricketBoard officials have made yet
another cardinal error in their conduct of theinternational game. Money is
the driving force behind international cricket.Were the Zimbabwean tour
cancelled, some ECB officials privately estimatedthe cost of cancellation
could have been as high as £10 million. Even ifthis were true, the idea that
another Third World country could not havebeen found to fill the gap in the
schedule and have an unexpected pay-day inEngland beggars belief; Pakistan
were reported as being in line to do justthat. However, in an effort to
ensure that the Zimbabwe tour did take place,a promise was given that
England would tour Zimbabwe at the end of 2004. Thepromise took the form of
what has been called 'a qualified assurance'.'Subject to safety and security
concerns it is fully our intention toundertake that tour to Zimbabwe in
November 2004,' the ECB's chiefexecutive, Tim Lamb, announced. Yet again,
the principle of playing a sportin a country stricken by famine, run by a
genocidal maniac, whose people arebeing systematically denied their human
rights, rings no moral alarm bellswith the England cricket authorities. So
long as their boys aren't harmed,and the cheque arrives at the end of the
day, nothing else appears tomatter.

This was madness on several
levels. First, financial reality meant that nosuch promise had to be given.
Second, if players are worried about security,it is going to be far harder
to secure it over a period of several weeksthan it would have been for the
couple of days our team was scheduled to bein that country during February.
Third, and most importantly, the politicalproblems in Zimbabwe which
triggered the February crisis - and which, latein the day, caused our Prime
Minister, Foreign Secretary and Secretary ofState for International
Development to say the match should not take place -are not going to get any
better by late next year unless Mugabe dies. In themanner of many of the
world's most repulsive dictators, he shows no sign ofdoing so. And, as the
Foreign Office minister Baroness Amos told the Houseof Lords a fortnight
ago, regime change in Harare is not a diplomatic aim ofHer Majesty's
Government. Therefore, it would seem that we have an almightyproblem coming
up, and it is yet another self-inflicted wound by the twerpswho run English
cricket.

The Zimbabwe Cricket Union had a board meeting on 29 March at
which itdiscussed the impending tour, and what was described as
'governmentpressure' to call it off. The chairman, Peter Chingoka, indicated
that hisorganisation was likely to go ahead with the tour. However, the
finaldecision was not his. All international tours by sporting organisations
inZimbabwe have to be sanctioned by the government-appointed
SportsCommission. Last Monday that approval was forthcoming. Now, the onus
is onour cricketers to fulfil their part of the deal and tour there in 18
months'time.

With a war on it is hardly surprising that those
politicians who became soexercised about the February match should have kept
quiet about the 2004tour. However, if they are to be logical about this,
certain implicationsnow flow from their existing policies. If Mr Blair, Mr
Straw and Miss Shortfelt so strongly that our cricketers should not play one
one-day match inZimbabwe this year, they cannot possibly support a whole
tour there nextyear. Last time, the politicians caused anger by making their
interventionso late in the day, barely six weeks before the Harare match was
due to takeplace. Now, they are on 18 months' notice. What is more, given
that theyhave no intention of forcing regime change in Harare, they know
from pastexperience that things will be even worse in Zimbabwe by the autumn
of nextyear than they are now. The Mugabe-inspired famine will be more
widespreadand will have killed more people. More white farmers will have
been murderedfor racist reasons and more of their property stolen. More
opponents of theregime will have been arrested, tortured and imprisoned on
trumped-upcharges. Order will be enforced in Zimbabwe only by means of an
even morebrutal repression. One no longer expects the idiots who run English
cricketto see that this is a problem. The government, however, certainly
should.

Perhaps now conscious of their almost demented ignorance of
politics, theEngland and Wales Cricket Board have, somewhat late in the day,
decided tosee whether they can do something about having to play cricket
againstcountries with such barbaric governments as Zimbabwe. On 7 April, the
ECBpresented a draft protocol to national representatives from football,
rugbyand tennis. It proposed the creation of a committee whose purpose would
beto seek early government approval to fulfil tours in politically
sensitivecountries. This is not just because of worries about Zimbabwe. This
October,England tour Bangladesh, where the Foreign Office already warns
tourists toexercise 'extreme vigilance' because of strong feelings by some
Muslimsagainst Westerners. The FO advice goes on to advise that Britons keep
a'very low profile' due to an 'increased risk for British nationals
frominternational terrorism in the region'. The advice adds that
'largedemonstrations against US and UK policy in Iraq have already occurred
inDhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet'.

So perhaps England won't tour
Bangladesh, but at least such a decision wouldbe clear-cut and to do with
safety. Meanwhile, things are becoming worse inZimbabwe, where political
considerations remain paramount. The country'sfast bowler, Henry Olonga, the
first black man to play for Zimbabwe, wore ablack armband during the World
Cup 'to mourn the death of democracy' in hiscountry. Following threats, he
now fears returning home until the politicalclimate has changed. He has no
regrets at what he did. 'I don't believe ifyou stand up for something that
is right that you can [have] regret.... I'mjust suffering the consequences
at the moment. I don't think in a year,possibly, that the world can tolerate
the type of leadership that we see inZimbabwe. Six million people may be
faced with starvation. I will try andget a work permit and see where I can
fit, and when things come right, I'llgo back.'

Olonga is a brave man,
but fails to understand the cowardice and moralblindness of the rest of the
world. Despite the strong British nationalinterest, a government happy to
secure regime change in Baghdad will notseek to do so in the far softer
target of Zimbabwe. Motivated by money, andas a result wilfully blind to the
political considerations, the cricketauthorities refuse to take any moral
stand. They are pitifully tarnished asa result, for they seem to have
sacrificed their very humanity. TheInternational Cricket Council, like the
United Nations, is dominated byThird World countries with an agenda shaped
by a very different definitionof right and wrong to that held by most of us,
and the ECB fears confrontingthem.

It is not the British government's
place to tell the cricket authoritieswhat to do, but the same senior
ministers who let their objections to theWorld Cup match be known should now
repeat them with added force. Thecricket authorities should be told that
public opinion will not toleratethem giving a propaganda coup to Mugabe next
year simply because they aretoo greedy and stupid to avoid doing so. But let
us have this debate now,and seek to embarrass these foolish men into doing
the right thing, ratherthan to leave it until the jumbo jet is revving up on
the runway atHeathrow.

By Cris ChinakaHARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe has accused Britainand the United States of trying
to "recolonise" the southern African countryby leading an international
campaign against his policies.

In a defiant speech marking the country's
independence from Britain 23 yearsago, Mugabe said on Friday that Western
opposition to his seizure ofwhite-owned farms for landless blacks was part
of a drive to keep the ThirdWorld poor.

"We abhor imperialistic
machinations and iniquitous efforts by Britain andits ally, the United
States, to recolonise us and we stand ready to resistsuch attempts," the
79-year-old Mugabe told an independence rally in Harare.

"Africa is for
Africans and Zimbabwe is for Zimbabweans... Our land, ourdear Zimbabwe will
never again fall into foreign hands. Never, never, neveragain will Zimbabwe
be a colony," he said to loud applause from 20,000supporters in a stadium
draped in posters declaring "Zimbabwe is ourmotherland".

But many
other Zimbabweans say they have little to celebrate.

Zimbabwe is facing
its worst crisis in more than two decades, with soaringunemployment and
shortages of fuel, foreign exchange and food which manyblame on Mugabe's
policies. Inflation hit a record 228 percent in March.

The opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) accuses Mugabe ofstealing last year's
presidential election and has vowed to lead streetprotests in a bid to drive
him from office.

"This is a very difficult day for many people. On one
hand there is theinvaluable gift of independence and on the other we have
very seriousproblems economically, socially and politically," said human
rights activistBrian Kagoro.

CRIPPLED ECONOMY FUELS
PROTESTS

Mugabe, the country's sole ruler since the former Rhodesia
gainedindependence in 1980, says the economy has been sabotaged by domestic
andWestern opponents of his land campaign aimed at redressing past
colonialinjustices.

Britain and the United States have slapped
sanctions on Mugabe and his innercircle. They deny allegations by Zimbabwean
leaders that their opposition toMugabe is "racist" and aimed at controlling
the country's natural resources.

A top U.S. official this week repeated
Washington's call for a transitionalgovernment leading to fresh polls.
Mugabe's victory last year was condemnedas fraudulent by some Western
nations, which also accuse his government ofrights abuses.

But
Zimbabwe escaped censure from the United Nations' top human rights bodyin
Geneva this week.

The European Union, with U.S. backing, had proposed a
motion to theCommission on Human Rights condemning rights violations in
Zimbabwe. ButAfrican countries voted to block the EU call.

MDC leader
Morgan Tsvangirai said this week his party would soon end thesuffering of
Zimbabweans.

Police detained and later released about 500 MDC members
last month afterone of the biggest protests since Mugabe came to power. Many
said they weretortured, but the authorities deny the allegations.

In
his speech, Mugabe said he would not tolerate unrest.

"Those who reject
democracy and choose the road of violence to achieve theirpolitical goals
are the enemies, indeed evil enemies of Zimbabwe and willnot be allowed to
succeed."

But analysts say the intimidation is unlikely to prevent more
protests.Union leaders said this week's hike in fuel prices could trigger
more publicanger.

The government said the increase, which saw the
price of a litre of petrolmore than double, was necessary to import fuel
supplies scarce since a dealwith Libya collapsed last year.

Mugabe
said his government was working to revive the economy and ease fuelshortages
that have left thousands stranded for transport during the
Easterholidays.

Several hundreds Zimbabweans living in South Africa, marched ontheir High
Commission in Pretoria today. They were protesting against whatthey
described as the repressive policies of the Robert Mugabe regime, andthe
collapse of the Zimbabwean
economy.

They called on President Robert Mugabe to hand over politicalpower to the
majority of Zimbabweans. The mood was upbeat among the hundredswho marched
on the Zimbabwean High Commission near the Union Buildings.However, no
sympathy was forthcoming from the Zimbabwean authorities. No onearrived to
receive the petition from the
protesters.

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Zimbabwe's mainopposition, said
more than three million Zimbabweans are now forced to liveoutside the
country. According to the party, misrule, hunger, starvation andthe death of
democracy are some of the reasons that have forced Zimbabweansinto
exile.

The march co-incided with the day Zimbabweans celebrate thecollapse of a
racist minority rule 23 years ago. According to the MDC,Zimbabweans have
nothing to celebrate. The party said human rightsviolations have reached
appalling proportions.

The extension of Zimbabwe's
suspension from the Commonwealth is a slap inthe face for President Thabo
Mbeki and Nigerian leader Olusegun Obassanjo,who were hoping this punitive
measure would wither on the vine.

Commonwealth Secretary General Don
McKinnon's announcement in the third weekof March that Zimbabwe will be left
out in the cold until the heads ofgovernment meeting in Nigeria in December
has created a crisis in this clubof former British colonies.

Mbeki
strongly disputes McKinnon's assertion that the South African andNigerian
leaders agreed with his action.

Mbeki and Obasanjo maintain they merely
told the secretary general to seekwider support for extending the suspension
slapped on President RobertMugabe's government when Commonwealth heads of
government met in Australialast year.

A limited sanction was a tough
enough measure to show Commonwealth concernat human rights abuses and
stealing an election, the South African andNigerian presidents
felt.

McKinnon's move has shown them they are out of step with the
widerCommonwealth feeling that Zimbabwe be excluded until Mugabe's
government isseen to be taking steps to apply democratic norms and obey the
rule of law.

McKinnon got a particularly strong message from the
Australian and NewZealand governments that have unilaterally imposed
sanctions on Zimbabwe.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard is the third
member of the troika,with Mbeki and Obasanjo, charged with deciding how to
express Commonwealthdispleasure with Zimbabwe.

Howard made no secret
of the fact that when the troika met again, as wasscheduled this month, he
would be pushing for something tougher thansuspension.

Mbeki and
Obasanjo responded by calling off the meeting. This is yet anotherinstance
of African leaders insisting that they call the shots on dealingwith a
recalcitrant colleague.

"They present it to us as part of the New
Programme for African Development(Nepad)," said a European diplomat in the
third week of March.

"They will get their house in order, and then we
must take them seriouslyand commit to development aid and promoting
investment. It is a wonderfulidea but it all falls down at the Zimbabwe
hurdle.

"If the African powers cannot take effective action against what
amounts toan illegitimate leader who is enriching himself while beating and
starvinghis people, then how seriously must we take them on other issues?"
thediplomat asked.

He said that this stubborn refusal to face up to
Mugabe has sabotaged yearsof hard work building meaningful cooperation
between Europe and Africa.

"The Euro-African summit scheduled for Lisbon
this summer has fallen victimto this. African leaders would rather scrap
this important meeting thanallow some Europeans to express their displeasure
at what it is happening inZimbabwe.

"As a result the whole
Euro-African development machine has slowed to acrawl. We are particularly
disappointed in the South African position. Mbekiquite justifiably takes a
vocal moral stand on a range of internationalissues that he cannot possibly
change," the diplomat said.

"Yet he remains quiet on Zimbabwe over which
he has real influence. Worse,he allows his foreign minister to make
statements reassuring Mugabe that heis immune to South African
criticism."

Mbeki's bid to get French assistance on Zimbabwe has fallen
victim to thewar on Iraq. At last month's Franco-African summit, Mbeki asked
FrenchPresident Jacques Chirac for some unspecified help on
Zimbabwe.

The French leader, who had broken European sanctions on
Zimbabwe by invitingMugabe to Paris for the meeting, said he would do what
he could. Mbeki'sthinking was the France might be able to help thaw the
freeze between Harareand European capitals - particularly
Britain.

"Can you think of anyone worse?" said a European envoy referring
to thewidening chasm between Paris and London over Iraq.

"[Prime
Minister] Tony Blair and others are blaming Chirac for taking thepressure
off Saddam Hussein and forcing them to go to war.

"France will be at full
stretch mending its fences with it own allies. Forthe foreseeable [future]
there is no chance of it being able to make anyrunning on Zimbabwe's
behalf."

"All we know is that
she came off the horse and a female elephant with calfcharged
her."

Ms Morrow said her sister had planned to go on to Scotland
and then see therunning of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain.

"She did
travel alone but she had a lot of travel friends," Ms Morrow said.

"She
made a lot of friends all over the world."

After finishing school, Kerrie
was bitten by the travel bug.

To finance her jaunts, she would take
whatever work she could find.

"She used to work two or three jobs," Ms
Morrow said.

Kerrie's family - her mother, Pat, her father, Bob, Michelle
and her othersister, Jenny - are desperate for her body to be returned to
Melbourne fromHarare. "We need her home so we can say goodbye," they
said.

The opposition has warned the UN that it cannot ignoreZimbabwe's human
rights
record.

The warning came after the UN human rights commissionvoted to throw out a EU
resolution criticising Robert Mugabe's human
rightsrecord.

Shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram said on Friday:"The UN cannot turn a
blind eye to the abuses of Robert Mugabe and nor canSouth Africa, which is
beginning to be affected financially and politicallyby what is
happening."

Ancram is also warning that Zimbabwe has the potential todestabilise the
whole
region.

"This crisis is not confined to Zimbabwe. What we areseeing is a
humanitarian crisis that is spreading beyond its borders,"
hesaid.

"Refugees are pouring into Botswana and the northern partof South
Africa."

The Conservatives say there is "a very strong case" forinvolving the UN in
the
country.

"UN observers should be sent into Zimbabwe to ensure thatfood is properly
distributed to starving people," said
Ancram.

"I would also like to see a resolution before the UNSecurity Council,
preferably moved by Britain and backed by the UnitedStates, and I would like
to see the whole question
internationalised."

The intervention follows a leaked report from Commonwealthsecretary general
Don McKinnon which listed a catalogue of human
rightsabuses.

McKinnon noted that "overall the general political,economic and social
situation in Zimbabwe has deteriorated since
March2002".

Harare - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe
congratulated Zimbabweans on Friday for regaining their land from white farmers,
in a defiant speech to mark 23 years of independence.

"Dear Zimbabweans,
it gives me immense pleasure to be able to tell you that the land that for over
a century we yearned to recover has come back to us. It is your land, my land,"
Mugabe told crowds at Harare's National Sports Stadium.

People also
gathered on Friday morning in Zimbabwe's nine provinces for celebrations to mark
the anniversary of independence from white Rhodesian rule.

But current
economic problems and heightened political tensions have cast a shadow over the
holiday for many.

'The nation has been
robbed of hope and the country has been reduced to
wasteland'

In an apparent reference to those threats Mugabe warned:
"Those who reject democracy and choose the road of violence to achieve their
political goals are the enemy of Zimbabwe, and will not be allowed to
succeed."

Mugabe, who fought in the 1970s war against the white regime of
Prime Minister Ian Smith, said the country remained conscious of the "painful
struggle and huge sacrifices made by our people" to achieve
independence.

And he hit out at Western nations who have criticised the
southern African country for its land reform programme, as well as for alleged
human rights abuses.

Three years ago Zimbabwe launched a controversial
land reform programme, which has seen 300 000 black families settled on
11-million hectares of former white-owned land, according to official
figures.

'ZANU-PF has brought
torture and hunger to Zimbabwe'

"The so-called unipolar world
would like us to accept deprivation," he told cheering crowds in a speech made
after lighting the Independence Flame, as he does each year.

But he
acknowledged that "we need to make the land productive". Nearly eight million
Zimbabweans have faced food shortages, a crisis Mugabe's government blames on
drought but critics pin partly on land reform.

Friday's celebrations
featured military displays, a fly-past by the air force and performances by
youth drama groups. New police vehicles were also in evidence. State radio said
they were to "quell any violence".

"Because we have affirmed our
sovereignty, we are regarded as a great threat to powerful nations," Mugabe
said.

The government has been angered by Zimbabwe's continued suspension
from the Commonwealth, announced by Secretary General Don McKinnon last
month.

The MDC, meanwhile, has said there is nothing to celebrate this
Independence Day. It has complained that scores of its supporters have been
arrested or assaulted since a widely supported stayaway in March.

In an
Easter and Independence Day message, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who is facing
treason charges over an alleged plot to kill Mugabe, said: "The nation has been
robbed of hope and the country has been reduced to wasteland."

"The
democratic space has been effectively abolished and peaceful protest is answered
with bullets, teargas and bayonets."

In a graphic advertisement published
in the private Daily News newspaper, the MDC showed a photograph of the badly
scarred torso of an MDC supporter.

The party said he had been brutally
tortured by a group of 20 armed ZANU-PF supporters.

"ZANU-PF has brought
torture and hunger to Zimbabwe," the MDC said.

Independence celebrations
this year come as many Zimbabweans face an upward struggle to survive.

At
least 80 percent of the country's 11,6 million people live well below the
poverty line, and the recent fuel price increases are bound to plunge many
Zimbabweans even deeper into poverty and
misery.